Homily for Wednesday in Holy Week

preached by the Revd Lucie Spiers

Matthew 26: 14-25

In tonight’s gospel passage from Matthew, the stage is being set for the final drama of Jesus’ mission, with the disciples focused on preparing for the Passover at Jesus’ bidding.

But the mind of one of the twelve, Judas Iscariot, was perhaps not so focused on the Passover arrangements but rather on seeking an opportunity to betray Jesus. For he had already visited the Chief Priests to ask what they would offer him to deliver Jesus over to them. And he might also have been wondering on what he would spend the thirty pieces of silver he had been paid by them.

Judas - forever remembered as the betrayer. We cannot begin to fathom what was running through his mind to carry out this act. So much has been written about him. Was he a tool of Satan? God’s tool? Maybe he was disillusioned with Jesus and the path his ministry had taken. Perhaps he no longer believed that he was the Messiah. Could Judas, in his own misguided and controlling way, have been trying to create an opportunity for Jesus to prove that he was God. But Jesus was not there to prove anything; Jesus was there to redeem.

What we do know is that Judas was the catalyst for Jesus’s arrest and the unfolding events that ultimately led to his death. And during the course of the shared meal, Jesus, foreseeing this, shatters their celebration: “One of you is to betray me, " in the Greek – hand me over. There is a chorus of ‘Is it I, Lord?’ Yet none of them point a finger at someone else. For each realises that they are a potential betrayer of their Lord. And sure enough, in the coming crisis, they will all abandon him.

But this had been foretold in the Scriptures, as Jesus told the shocked and sorrowful disciples - ‘The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!’ – Judas, who turns away from Jesus, a disciple no more.

But could it be that Judas’ final mistake was not that he betrayed Jesus, but rather that he had no confidence in the Lord's mercy and in his own power to recover from that betrayal, as his fellow disciple Peter did. Rather, he fell headlong into despair.

None of us is innocent. Yet God's immeasurable grace and forgiveness are greater than our own selfish betrayal. This forgiveness offers us a chance to start anew. Even when we think God is not listening or when we pray and do not receive the answers we hoped for, our faith is tested we may become disillusioned, and yet God loves us for who we are— the beloved and the betrayer. For God loves us with an unlimited, unconditional love.

But today’s Gospel does not end in betrayal; it ends in love. Jesus knew he would be betrayed and that his time on earth was limited. However, he did not stop carrying out his mission despite this knowledge. Instead, he used his betrayal as an opportunity to demonstrate the power of his love for us, as well as the forgiveness and redemption he offers. For it is never too late to change or repent. God’s love and capacity for forgiveness are infinite.

Would that Judas had remained. If he could have followed Jesus along the rocky, winding road to Golgotha. If he could have stayed close to the foot of the Cross on which his friend and teacher hung, then he would have heard, ‘Father forgive them…’.

St. Paul reminds us that the cross is a scandal, yet the cross and resurrection offer hope for all. For life sprang forth from death.

Our salvation is surely also Judas’ salvation - for the depth of God’s love knows no bounds.